Cordless telephone instruments for use in the home are widely available. Such systems, comprise a base unit and a remote handunit. The base unit is coupled to the telephone line and communicates with the remote handunit via FM radio signals. With such a cordless telephone system a user can remove the handunit from its cradle and carry it with him a short distance from his house yet still be able to make and receive telephone calls. Such a cordless telephone set is known from GE cordless telephone model number 2-9675 manufactured by Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Indianapolis, Ind.
If the user is engaged in a conversation via a cordless telephone, and a third person within the user's house wishes to join in the telephone conversation, that person can simply pick up a "hard-wired" extension telephone. Unfortunately, the third person cannot maintain participation in the conversation without remaining in the immediate area of the hard-wired telephone unit.
A copending patent application bearing U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 817,934 discloses a cordless telephone system which comprises a base unit and two handunits. In that system both handunits may be used to communicate with the base unit, but a problem may arise if one of the handunits is physically closer to the base unit than the other. In that case, the signal of the nearer handunit may be captured in both receiver channels, resulting in the loss of the signal of the more distant handunit.